If you are using a CRT eMac rates are higher, but still pretty close to the fp, except for sleep mode which uses 35 watts per hour @ a little over $2 per month.
It seems there has always been discussion about whether it is best to leave a computer on or off. It is not cut and dried as far as computers go. Computers are not just electrical. They are also mechanical. As in many things, trade offs occur Here's my $.02 for the mix.:
- A machine left in an unchanged state fairs better then one that switches between states. Vote for standby mode.
- A fan left on all the time does 5 things - it passes air, it passes dust, it collects dust, it wears it's bearings and brushes, and it uses electricity. A fan that is on only when the equipment is used suffers less mechanical wear then one left on all the time. It will collect less dust, pass less dust and wear to its mechanics will be reduced over time with less dust accumulation. While sleeping I have not heard my iMac use it's fan. Vote for sleep mode.
- Computers that use a fan for cooling accumulate dust. Depending on your environment the accumulation can be sizable in a few months. The dust inhibits cooling when it coats circuits and can, depending on its nature cause corrosion of contacts as well. You get less dust accumulation if your fan is not running all the time. Vote for sleep mode.
- Computers that do NOT use a fan also accumulate dust. It is at a greatly reduced rate, BUT the nature of convection type cooling systems is such that dust can impact the cooling of the system in smaller quantities then on a fan equipped system. If a system is cooler, it passes less air by convection. Vote for sleep mode.
- A Mac in sleep mode uses less power then one in standby mode. Standby mode uses less power then idle mode (idle being the normal state of a ready to use system). Consumption of power generates heat. Therefore when a machine goes from standby to idle it increases power consumption and generates more heat. The impact is less then a cold start, but a thermal change does occur. Vote for standby mode.
- Hard drives are sources for heat due to their consumption of power. They also wear their bearings over time from continuous use. A system changing from either sleep or standby will see a temperature spike after the drive comes up to speed. They also have thermal mass in the form of their cases and will retain heat longer lessening the thermal spike if the drive is not permitted a long enough time to cool to room temperature. It is good for a hard drive to run all the time, bearing wear is a minor concern in modern drives and most failures on them occur at startup or shut down. Vote for standby mode.
- CRT's consume lot of energy and as a result generate lots of heat unless turned off or in a sleep state. I have seen more fails occur when being powered up or down as opposed to those left in an idle state. Vote to dump the CRT and get an LCD display instead ;)
- Processors on modern computers get real hot and they don't stay at a steady temperature. It varies significantly with their workload. Sleep mode is not thermally kind to a processor. Vote for standby mode.
Ok I've jabbered on and on. So what am I saying? You pay for what you want. If you want to have it ready to go and get maximum longevity out of your Mac? Use standby without hard drive sleep and learn to clean out the dust accumulation. Want to save power, but still have a system start up quickly with a hit on longevity? Let it sleep.
In the long run I think it would be better to use sleep mode. Why you ask? It uses less electricity and what better excuse to buy a new G5 then to tell you significant other that your processor is toast from dust and heat!
Eddie
From: Donald Keenan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> So, if I were to set my iMac to never go to sleep, is that putting a burden on the hardware that a sleeping machine is spared? Is it purely an energy saving device?
Yes, it's an energy-saving (and convenient) device. And yes, leaving a machine "on" all the time is putting a burden on the hardware that a sleeping machine is spared.
I like pressing a key on my Mac when I'm ready to get back to work and it's almost instantly "up." I think it's a terrible waste of energy (energy waste is a pet peeve of mine) to leave a computer in 100% up state if nobody is using it. IMO, sleeping gives me the best of both worlds -- the components are kept "warmed up" which reduces wear and tear, and there's a vastly reduced "shock to the system" when you "wake up" (as opposed to starting the machine up cold). But I also save a large amount of energy over keeping the machine "awake" 24/7.
If you're the sort of person that likes to shut the machine down completely when you're done with it, that's fine. Apple has repeatedly issued edicts that say that today's Macs are designed to be "slept" rather than shut down, but it's your choice. But leaving it 100% on when nobody is there is just egregious waste, and our (by which I mean the US) habit of excessive consumption has gotten us (and continues to get us) into all kinds of trouble. But that's another topic for another discussion.
It has been my experience that most if not all of the people have problems with sleep have third-party "haxies" running and that this is the true cause of the problems. I don't own every model Mac, but I do have iBooks and iMacs and haven't seen any sleep problems with them. I have seen that "haxies" can cause sleep problems with my own eyes, and while there are one or two that I actually run (ClearDock for example), I try to avoid them.
_Chas_
"Though Apple continues to insist that its Power Mac systems are desktops, their features and performance outstrip those of any mainstream PC desktop. In comparison with dual-processor PC workstations, Apple can claim both performance and price leadership." -- Microprocessor Watch
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